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Wrexham’s head of football operations Barry Horne believes the club’s supporters can have genuine grounds for optimism ahead of the new season as the Dragons bid to bounce back from a disappointing campaign last time round.

Six summer signings have freshened up the Racecourse squad as manager Kevin Wilkin looks to get back on track for a top-five finish and Horne, who has been involved in all the wheeling and dealing, is confident it will pay dividends.

“I’m very pleased with the signings the club has made,” he said. “I think the squad has a balanced look to it in the sense that we have a lot of goals in the squad, I think (goalkeeper) Dan Bachmann and the two centre-backs are terrific additions and our midfield has always been the strength of the team anyway.

“The squad now is much younger than it was 12 months ago and I feel we will score goals. The players we’ve signed, with the exception perhaps of Dan, have a degree of experience and are proven footballers to varying degrees at this level.

“In addition, Elliott Durrell will be like a new signing because the fans haven’t seen the best of him yet and one or two of the younger players will be given responsibility and opportunities.

“So there is a new freshness and a new optimism among the players.”

Having worked closely with Wilkin to try and strengthen the Dragons’ squad, Horne insisted it had been very much a team effort.

“Kevin’s job is to manage, coach and prepare the players and in that sense it’s his responsibility to source the players he wants to bring to the club,” added the former Wales and Everton captain.

“That will always be the case and he painstakingly drew up a list of targets and we worked through them together.

“We filled holes in the squad to the point where it is the right size and it’s been done within a budget. Once Kevin has identified players, it’s my job to try and help him get them.

“Any manager during this time of year will have had a wish-list that included more names than are actually needed and it’s inevitable that there are always going to be players who receive better offers from elsewhere, whether they be from a Football League club or one with more money to spend,” he said.

“In other cases the geography and the player’s individual circumstance also will influence his decision when he considers his future.”

Kevin Wilkin's side should be ready to bounce back.

Although he played in an era when players’ agents were something of a rarity, Horne experienced few, if any, problems during the various negotiations, adding: “You have to accept that most players at all levels now have agents.

“But I always find if you are honest and straight with people, which is something that Wrexham FC will always be, then they are equally straight in return.”

And he is confident that the Dragons have got extremely good value for the money they have shelled out.

“We believe our budget is very competitive in our division. Information is picked up in conversations throughout football and some of it is also in the public domain,” he said.

“We have a fair idea of what players are earning at other clubs and we are willing to bet our budget is very competitive in comparison. We believe the players Kevin has brought in over the summer represent excellent value for money.

“But while we can talk players up and be as optimistic as we like, the reality is that we have 46 games ahead of us and we have to look to finish above 18 of the other 22 sides in the Conference Premier. That’s the ambition and the hope with which we go into the new season.”

Do you agree? Are you looking forward to the new season? Where do you think the Dragons will finish this season?